Number of Jobs Created in March Misses Expert Expectations

A new study released today showed the amount of jobs created in the month of March did not meet expectations set by economists.

The report released in a joint partnership from ADP and Moody’s Analytics showed 158,000 jobs were created in the month of March. Economists predicted this number to be as high as 200,000. One of the given reasons for the reduced number of jobs is Hurricane Sandy related. Economists say construction jobs created in the wake of the superstorm are dropping off and caused the target number to be missed.

Most of the job creation came from small businesses of less than 50 employees, which accounted for more than 74,000 positions. Large companies added 47,000 jobs and medium-sized firms hired 37,000, according to the study. The service sector led the recovery in jobs, adding 151,000.

“I’m very optimistic about the economy but I think the next six months are going to be pretty tricky and we’re going to see that in the job market,” said Moody’s economist Mark Zandi. “So I think we actually will see weaker jobs numbers in the next few months.”

ADP also revised its February jobs count, raising the number from 198,000 to 237,000, while January’s number came down from 215,000 to 177,000.